Enduring Beauty

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  “Beauty is the quality which makes to endure. In a house that I know, I have noticed a block of spermaceti lying about closets and mantel-pieces, for twenty years together, simply because the tallow-man gave it the form of a rabbit; and, I suppose, it may continue to be lugged about unchanged for a century. Let an artist scrawl a few lines or figures on the back of a letter, and that scrap of paper is rescued from danger, is put in portfolio, is framed and glazed, and, in proportion to the beauty of the lines drawn, will be kept for centuries. Burns writes a copy of verses, and sends them to a newspaper, and the human race take charge of them that they shall not perish.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson. (1803–1882).   Essays and English Traits.

The Deep Touch of God's Grace

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“God’s grace is not a static attribute whereby He passively accepts hardened, unrepentant sinners. Grace does not change a person’s standing before God yet leave his character untouched. Real grace does not include, a Chafer claimed, ‘the Christian’s liberty to do precisely as he chooses.’ True grace, according to Scripture, teaches us ‘to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:12). Grace is the power of God to fulfill our new covenant duties (cf. 1 Cor. 7:19), however inconsistently we obey at times. Clearly, grace does not grant permission to live in the flesh; it supplies power to live in the Spirit.”

MacArthur, John. “A Look At The Issues.” The Gospel According to Jesus. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2008. P. 46

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